Jaguars: National Analyst's 7-Round mock draft provides a dream scenario
The Jacksonville Jaguars have their cake and eat it too in ESPN's Matt Miller's latest seven-round mock draft. Heading into the 2023 NFL Draft, everyone is talking about the dilemma that GM Trent Baalke is facing with the 24th overall pick: Do the Jaguars add weapons for their best player, Trevor Lawrence? Or are they […]
The Jacksonville Jaguars have their cake and eat it too in ESPN's Matt Miller's latest seven-round mock draft.
Heading into the 2023 NFL Draft, everyone is talking about the dilemma that GM Trent Baalke is facing with the 24th overall pick: Do the Jaguars add weapons for their best player, Trevor Lawrence? Or are they better off addressing the defensive needs of the team?
It's not an easy question and it will ultimately be decided by the way the board falls. But if Miller's predictions for the team come to fruition, they'd get one player for each side of the ball that many analysts consider first-round prospects.
In his mock, he has the Jags finding CB Deonte Banks (Maryland) to pair him with Tyson Campbell in the secondary. Banks, a three-star recruit out of high school, is projected to go in the first round because of his speed and size. Below is Miller's breakdown of the pick:
"Two years after selecting Tyson Campbell in the first round, the Jaguars are back on the board with another big, long, fast cornerback prospect. Banks was one of the biggest in-season risers with a 6-2 frame, 4.35 speed and 10 pass breakups in the '22 season. "He can be a really good CB2 or a CB1 in a zone scheme," said one NFC scout. "He got beat up in man coverage last year because teams threw at him a lot, but better coaching with his athletic gifts will unlock that ability." The Jaguars are in a position to add talent for future needs and Banks' upside is worth developing."
"Overall, Banks needs to add more discipline to his play style, but when he trusts his technique, he has the size, athleticism, and physicality of an NFL starter," writes The Athletic's Dane Brugler in his draft guide. "He projects best as an outside, press-man cornerback with upside in zone looks."
Banks is ranked as the 42nd best prospect of the draft in A to Z Sports draft analyst Tyler Browning's board.
But where the Jaguars' draft takes a huge step in Miller's mock is in the second round when the team picks TE Darnell Washington out of Georgia. Oftentimes compared to offensive linemen in size, Washington is the perfect developmental player that could turn into one of the best in the NFL.
He creates legitimate match-up problems as opposing defenses have to account for him as a legitimate blocker while also taking care of not matching up against a smaller defender in pass coverage.
For Tyler Browning, Washington is the 23rd-best player of the 2023 NFL Draft. Grabbing Banks and Washington would take care of the Jaguars' dilemma by adding two players who can immediately contribute as rookies.
"Darnell is a physical phenom," writes Browning of the tight end. "Coming in at 6'7, 264 he can literally be a sixth offensive lineman for you on the football field. However, he is more than that. Darnell is a legitimate athlete with receiving ability. He has a huge frame and can win at the catch point with ease. As you guessed, at his size he is a more than capable blocker."
Below are the rest of Miller's picks for the Jaguars, which you can read here:
- 88. Gervon Dexter, DT, Florida
- 121. Andre Carter II, DE, Army
- 127. Dontayvion Wicks, WR, Virginia
- 185. Ivan Pace Jr., ILB, Cincinnati
- 202. Keaton Mitchell, RB, East Carolina
- 208. Jason Taylor II, S, Oklahoma State
- 226. Cam Jones, OLB, Indiana
